Galapagos

Highlights

Santa Cruz and nearby central islands

Santa Cruz (Indefatigable) Island
Santa Cruz is the most central of the islands and has the largest human population. The town of Port Ayora is the main base for tourism there are hotels, guest houses and dive operations.

Charles Darwin Research Centre: where scientists are captive breeding tortoises and land iguanas to put back on islands where they have been endangered. There is a visitor centre explaining the history and conservation. Visitors can visit the giant tortoise enclosures and see 'lonesome George' the last tortoise of Pinta island.

Highlands: worthwhile to see the sub-tropical forest, though much native flora has been destroyed by introduced plants and animals. Many land bird species can be seen here, including nine sorts of Darwin's finch, the elusive Galapagos rail, vermilion flycatcher, and yellow warbler.

Tortoise Reserve: where there is a chance to see giant tortoises in the wild. Go with a guide. All highland tours and even the bus to Baltra usually stop at Los Gemelos (The Twins) these two 'pit-craters' lie either side of the road beyond Santa Rosa, surrounded by dense Scalesia forest.

Black Turtle Cove: On the northern coast is a tranquil mangrove lagoon where turtles breed alongside baby sharks and schools of rays. Herons and pelicans take advantage of the easy fishing here.

Bachas Beach: is a white sandy cove with crabs and wading birds, behind a lagoon frequented by flamingos.

Daphne Major Island
Daphne is a rarely visited site. The landing is tricky and steep. The trail ends at a ledge with a panoramic view of two craters. Both of these contain hundreds of nesting blue-footed boobies. Every single Darwin's finch on this island has been ringed and studied in intimate detail for more than two decades.

North Seymour Island
You land on black basaltic lava but the rest of the trail is flat and easy, apart from some boulders. The coast is rich in life: sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls, lava gulls, tropic birds, brown noddy terns and pelicans. Along the shore the sand is criss-crossed with marine iguana trails. Iguanas nest here so you should be careful where you tread.

If you are lucky you will see a male magnificent frigatebird with his huge red balloon of a gular throat pouch trying to impress a female. Competition is fierce. Nearby there is a flatter area where blue-footed boobies nest. Seymour is a good place to watch the theatrical display of the amusing 'dance of the blue-foots'. who spend hours handing nesting material, twigs and small stones, to each other but never actually construct a nest

Santa Fé (Barrington) Island
A picturesque bay with two trails, one climbs to a high cliff, great for views, another short loop goes to a cactus grove of giant prickly pairs. Any rustling sounds could be the endemic rice rat, a big-eared rodent straight out of a Disney film. The park monument is often a vantage point for a Galapagos Hawk. A unique land iguana is found here that seems to grin like the Cheshire cat.

South Plazas Island
A tiny island packed with life. One of the best places to spot land iguanas, also the less colourful black marine iguanas, which can also be found happily walking right across the island. The cliff is windy, and a great place for red-billed tropic birds, swallow-tailed gulls, brown pelicans, and frigatebirds in flight. Here too is the 'bachelor sea lion colony'. Here is a motley collection of male sea lions who have lost their territories. Plazas has one of the most concentrated sea lion colonies in the islands, about a thousand sea lions shift around as males continually vie for 'harem's' of females.